The invention relates generally to welding systems and, more specifically, to digital networking within a welding system.
Welding-related devices, such as welding power supplies, welding wire feeders, welding torches, welding helmets, welding control pendants, welding foot pedals, and other electronic devices, are often electronically coupled together in a welding system. The welding-related devices may include network devices that are used to control the devices, and to facilitate communication between the devices. For example, network devices may enable certain devices in the welding system to communicate together using a network medium and a network protocol, such as Ethernet, universal serial bus (USB), and/or other serial communication architectures (e.g., RS-232, RS-422, etc.). Unfortunately, devices in the welding system that are on different networks may be unable to communicate together. Furthermore, certain communication architectures may be difficult to implement using certain network devices, such as embedded systems.